Just want to clarify, this is not my Substack, I'm just sharing this because I found it insightful.

The author describes himself as a "fractional CTO"(no clue what that means, don't ask me) and advisor. His clients asked him how they could leverage AI. He decided to experience it for himself. From the author(emphasis mine):

I forced myself to use Claude Code exclusively to build a product. Three months. Not a single line of code written by me. I wanted to experience what my clients were considering—100% AI adoption. I needed to know firsthand why that 95% failure rate exists.

I got the product launched. It worked. I was proud of what I’d created. Then came the moment that validated every concern in that MIT study: I needed to make a small change and realized I wasn’t confident I could do it. My own product, built under my direction, and I’d lost confidence in my ability to modify it.

Now when clients ask me about AI adoption, I can tell them exactly what 100% looks like: it looks like failure. Not immediate failure—that’s the trap. Initial metrics look great. You ship faster. You feel productive. Then three months later, you realize nobody actually understands what you’ve built.

He asked a teenager to denude himself to prove he doesn't have any fascist tattoo. When the teenager refused, he threw him on the ground.

Scientists from China and Singapore say they've developed a way for rare earths to emit light when powered by electricity, potentially paving the way for their use in light emitting diodes, or LEDs.

Scientists say the rare earth applications in LEDs are poised to open a new pathway in next-gen display technology.

The team's findings were recently published in Nature, the internationally peer reviewed magazine for science and technology research.

I went to a small 'dinosaur museum' last summer in South Bend Indiana. I wasn't expecting much, but found myself disappointed that all the large displays (except one) were 'replicas'. I'm not sure why I felt this way, since all fossils are 'copies'. But 'replica' makes it seem fake.

edit: I think this is being misinterpreted. In my mind, all fossils are 'copies' of the original. The bone is gone, replaced by stone. But for some reason, calling something a replica doesn't carry the same...majesty as the original copy. Maybe it's just the thought that it could have been tampered with when making it out of plastic or fiberglass.

https://www.oglaf.com/curse-emporium/

When Donald Trump has been asked about the reason he’s pressuring Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to step down and threatening military action against the country, he consistently blames the South American leader for two things: drugs and migrants.

As the Trump administration continues its strikes on alleged drug vessels at sea, the president has threatened that attacks against drug cartels on land in Venezuela would begin “very soon.” Experts who have modeled what would happen if Trump went ahead with even limited strikes warn Venezuela could see mass displacement and a new refugee surge like the 2017 crisis Trump blames on Maduro that led to thousands of Venezuelans moving to the US.

A Niskanen Center study released last month modeling refugee movements based on different types of US military action found that strikes could spur 1.7 million to 3 million additional people to flee Venezuela within just a few years if the attacks triggered a brief internal conflict.

Eldest son of Donald Trump makes speculative comments during tirade against Volodymyr Zelenskyy and EU

Donald Trump may walk away from the Ukrainian war, the US president’s oldest son has said in comments to a Middle East conference.

In a lengthy tirade against the purpose of continued fighting in Ukraine, Donald Trump Jr also said Ukraine’s “corrupt” rich had fled their country leaving “what they believed to be the peasant class” to fight the war.

Trump Jr has no formal role inside his father’s administration, but is a key figure in the MAGA movement. His intervention reflects the antipathy among some inside the Trump team towards the Ukrainian government, and comes as Trump’s negotiating team is putting pressure on Kyiv to give up territory.

"Every time Trump or members of his administration have lashed out at Europe, including Ukraine, Europeans have absorbed the blow with a forced smile and bent over backwards to flatter the White House." (...)

"While a systemic answer to Europe’s security conundrum is not in sight, Europeans do have the levers to prevent Ukraine’s capitulation and create the conditions for a just peace."

Arch

"Unless you've been living under a rock you've obviously already heard about the newest developments in snail studies"

"The world mourns as the foremost expert on protozoans in central europe transitions to professor emeritus. The world is lesser for this, and we expect all flags to be flown at half mast" [Cues up AI generated mourning song ala "we are Charlie Kirk"]

MAGA’s mission to meddle in European politics should terrify Starmer, Macron and Merz. Will any of them fight back?

Donald Trump has launched a crusade to convert European politics to his cause, mobilizing the full force of American diplomacy to promote “patriotic” parties, stamp on migration, destroy “censorship” and save “civilization” from decay.

The question is whether Europe’s embattled centrists have the power, or the will, to stop him. In its newly released National Security Strategy document, the White House set out for the first time in a comprehensive form its approach to the geopolitical challenges facing the U.S. and the world.

While bringing peace to Ukraine gets a mention, when it comes to Europe, America’s official stance is now that its security depends on shifting the continent’s politics decisively to the right.

MAGA’s mission to meddle in European politics should terrify Starmer, Macron and Merz. Will any of them fight back?

Donald Trump has launched a crusade to convert European politics to his cause, mobilizing the full force of American diplomacy to promote “patriotic” parties, stamp on migration, destroy “censorship” and save “civilization” from decay.

The question is whether Europe’s embattled centrists have the power, or the will, to stop him. In its newly released National Security Strategy document, the White House set out for the first time in a comprehensive form its approach to the geopolitical challenges facing the U.S. and the world.

While bringing peace to Ukraine gets a mention, when it comes to Europe, America’s official stance is now that its security depends on shifting the continent’s politics decisively to the right.

Year in Review.

Including two popes, the Prince of Darkness, and MrBeast.

Wikipedia will mark its 25th anniversary on January 15, 2026. No one could have predicted 25 years ago that Wikipedia would grow into the backbone of knowledge on the internet it is today—powering search engines, voice assistants, and generative AI tools.

Today, nearly 250,000 volunteers generously give their time and energy to update Wikipedia, add citations, build consensus, and more. They keep knowledge human. In 2025, people spent an estimated 2.4 billion hours reading English Wikipedia articles, according to data from the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that operates Wikipedia and other Wikimedia free knowledge projects. The top 20 most-read English Wikipedia articles of 2025 outlined below focus on politics, popular culture, and loss.

Canadian expert David Vigneault warns of China’s ‘industrial-strength’ attempts to steal new technologies

Hostile spy agencies are now as focused on infiltrating western universities and companies as they are on doing so to governments, according to the former head of Canada’s intelligence service.

David Vigneault warned that a recent “industrial-scale” attempt by China to steal new technologies showed the need for increased vigilance from academics.

“The frontline has moved, from being focused on government information to private sector innovation, research innovation and universities,” he told the Guardian in his first interview since leaving the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), which is part of the “Five Eyes” intelligence sharing alliance with the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Ukraine’s top commander, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said it would be “unacceptable” for Kyiv to surrender territory in any peace agreement with Russia, warning that Moscow is using ongoing diplomatic talks as “cover” to seize more land by force. 

Speaking to Sky News in an undisclosed location in eastern Ukraine via a translator on Dec. 5, Syrskyi said a "just peace" can only begin with a ceasefire along the current line of contact followed by negotiations.

"Our main mission is to defend our land, our country, and our population," he said. “Naturally, for us it is unacceptable to simply give up territory. What does it even mean – to hand over our land? This is precisely why we are fighting; so we do not give up our territory.”